"At the time of his default, Carlsen had scored 5/8 and was a point and a half behind the leaders, with little chance of retaining his title."
EDIT: I find it hilarious that this is downvoted. It's incredibly cogent to the point. If Magnus was leading the event I guarantee he wouldn't have pursued this distraction.
It's an odds thing. He was unlikely to win. There are some very strong opponents. Could he have won? Sure. But note that he didn't protest the dress code at the beginning of the event.
And sure, he's "fed up" with FIDE (in the sense that everyone who thinks they are bigger than a league does). So why did he participate? If he had the purported principles, he should just withdraw from FIDE sanctioned events, no?
EDIT: I find it hilarious that this is downvoted. It's incredibly cogent to the point. If Magnus was leading the event I guarantee he wouldn't have pursued this distraction.